Navalny appears at a court hearing the day before his death/Reuters
Kira Yarmish, the spokeswoman for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, confirmed today (Saturday) the government's claim that he was killed in the penal colony where he was imprisoned.
"Navelani's body should be handed over to his family immediately," Yermish urged X.
Shortly before that, his mother Ludmila went to the prison accompanied by her son's lawyer and a journalist.
Following the visit, Yarmish contradicted the authorities' claim that Navalny's body is kept in a morgue in the nearby town.
According to the prison service, the 47-year-old Navalni "felt not well" during the march, and "immediately lost consciousness".
It was also reported that the medical team was unable to save his life, and the circumstances of his death are being investigated.
Biden accused Putin: "further proof of his brutality".
The Kremlin said it had no information on the cause of Navalny's death and that Putin had been informed on the matter.
Navalny's associates said that they could not confirm the prison service's announcement of his death, and that his lawyer was on his way to the penal colony where he was held, located in the city of Harp, in the Arctic Law Zone.
He was transferred to her in December, within 20 days of his disappearance from his previous detention facility.
The penal colony is called "the polar wolf" due to the harsh conditions there.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears at a court hearing via video, January 11, 2024/Reuters
The death of the opposition leader, who was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for various crimes, happened about a month before the presidential elections, in which Putin has no real opponent and his path to another term is paved.
Throughout the last quarter of a century in which he has led Russia, many of Putin's opponents have been murdered or survived mysterious assassination attempts.
Navalny was saved from severe poisoning, which according to experts was carried out by Soviet nerve gas during a tour he conducted in Siberia in August 2020. He was flown for medical treatment in Germany and recovered there, but decided to return to Russia in order to lead the opposition against Putin.
He was arrested immediately upon landing in Moscow in September 2021, and has not seen the light of day since.
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